IN BRIEF

NORMAN (TNS) — Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Lester announced his retirement Monday and dismissed his lawsuit against the county commissioners.

“This letter is to inform you that, effective immediately, I am retiring from public service and as the sheriff of Cleveland County,” Lester wrote in a letter to commissioners.

The trial date for the civil suit between Lester and other county officials was set to begin Wednesday, but depositions set for Monday and today were canceled, county commissioners said.

“I got a texted and emailed letter where Joe is resigning immediately with his signature, and our attorneys were contacted by his attorney saying that he is dismissing the lawsuit,” County Commissioner Darry Stacy said.

Stacy said Undersheriff Rhett Burnett became active sheriff by default upon Lester’s retirement.

The commissioners gathered for an emergency meeting Monday night and went into a closed-door executive session with attorneys to discuss what to do during the interim between Lester’s retirement and a special election to fill the post.

Commissioners did not appoint anyone in Lester’s stead at this point, so Burnett remains in charge for the time being, but applications for the interim appointment will be taken through Friday.

— The Norman Transcript

BEHEADING CASE

Jury recommends sentences for Nolen

NORMAN (TNS) — A couple of days after a Cleveland County jury found Alton Nolen guilty of first-degree murder for the 2014 beheading death of Colleen Hufford, the 12-person jury made up of eight men and four women took less than two hours to come back with a sentencing recommendation for five assault with weapon charges Nolen faces in connection with the Sept. 2014 attack at Vaughan Foods.

The recommendations for Nolen were:

• Count 2, assault and battery with a deadly weapon: Life

• Count 3, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon: 55 years

• Count 4, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon: Life

• Count 5, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon: Life

• Count 6, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon: 75 years

The court will start hearing evidence in regards to a sentence for the first-degree murder charge.

— The Norman Transcript

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.